Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals: An assessment of the early diagnostic value of serum amyloid A and plasma fibrinogen concentrations in equine clinical practice

Passamonti, Fabrizio; Vardi, Doron M; Stefanetti, Valentina; Marenzoni, Maria Luisa; Prato, Stefano Del; Cévese, P.; Coletti, Mauro; Pepe, Marco; Proietti, Patrizia Casagrande; Olea‐Popelka, Francisco

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.08.033

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…58 A subsequent smaller study that assessed weekly screening with SAA to identify preclinical R equi infections in an endemic farm diagnosed with R equi pneumonia found similar results. 59 In the latter study, SAA concentrations were not associated with the development of sonographic evidence of lung abscessation and only two of six foals with pneumonia had high SAA concentrations.…”

Section: Rhodococcus Equi and Serum Amyloid Amentioning

confidence: 67%

Equine Inflammatory Markers in the Twenty-First Century

Long¹,

Nolen-Walston²

2020

Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice

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Section: Rhodococcus Equi and Serum Amyloid Amentioning

confidence: 67%

Equine Inflammatory Markers in the Twenty-First Century

Long¹,

Nolen-Walston²

2020

Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice

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“…Recognition of foals with R. equi pneumonia before development of clinical signs would likely reduce losses and limit costs associated with long‐term treatment of severely affected foals. In a recent study, there was no association between SAA concentrations and ultrasonographic evidence of pneumonia in 10 foals raised at a farm endemic for R. equi . Although thoracic ultrasonography has long been used to screen foals for R. equi pneumonia at endemic farms, recent studies have shown that many foals with ultrasonographic lesions do not develop clinical signs of pneumonia and recover without treatment .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In a recent study, there was no association between SAA concentrations and ultrasonographic evidence of pneumonia in 10 foals raised at a farm endemic for R. equi. 20 Although thoracic ultrasonography has long been used to screen foals for R. equi pneumonia at endemic farms, 21,22 recent studies have shown that many foals with ultrasonographic lesions do not develop clinical signs of pneumonia and recover without treatment. [23][24][25] In addition, administration of antimicrobial agents to foals with small ultrasonographic lesions does not hasten lesion resolution compared to administration of a placebo.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical Assessment of a Point‐of‐Care Serum Amyloid A Assay in Foals with Bronchopneumonia

Giguère

Berghaus

Miller

2016

Veterinary Internal Medicne

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BackgroundDespite the paucity of data available, stall‐side serum amyloid (SAA) assays are commonly used to make diagnostic and treatment decisions in foals with bronchopneumonia.HypothesisMeasurement of SAA concentrations can accurately differentiate pneumonic from healthy foals.AnimalsFifty‐four pneumonic foals between 3 weeks and 5 months of age were compared to 44 healthy controls. In addition, 47 foals on a farm endemic for R. equi infections were studied.MethodsSerum samples were collected from pneumonic foals at hospital admission. Foals were categorized as having pneumonia caused by R. equi or by other microorganisms based on culture of a tracheobronchial aspirate. In addition, serum samples were obtained at 2‐week intervals from foals born at a farm endemic for R. equi. SAA concentrations were measured by a point‐of‐care assay. Diagnostic performance of SAA was assessed by use of receiver operating characteristic curves.ResultsConcentrations of SAA in foals with bronchopneumonia were significantly (P < 0.001) higher than those of healthy foals, but 15 of 54 pneumonic foals (28%) had SAA concentrations <5 μg/mL. There was no correlation between SAA concentrations and radiographic score in foals with R. equi pneumonia. The ability of SAA to predict development of R. equi pneumonia at the endemic farm was limited with a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 77%.Conclusion and clinical importanceOverall, SAA concentrations are significantly higher in pneumonic than in healthy foals. However, performance of SAA in detecting pneumonic foals is limited by the high proportion of false‐positive and false‐negative results.

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“…Some authors advise the cut-off of 10 cm, above which foals should be treated straight away (Rutenberg et al 2017). Acute phase proteins (APPs) have been discussed recently as a promising parameter for monitoring pneumonia in foals (Hultén and Demmers 2002, Cohen et al 2005, Passamonti et al 2015, Giguère et al 2016. These APPs are specific indicators for inflammatory processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum amyloid A concentration in foals – Can it help when making a treatment decision in foals with pneumonia?

Thomé¹,

Weber²,

Rohn³

et al. 2018

PHK

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Bronchopneumonia is a frequent and serious pulmonary disorder in foals on equine breeding farms and the most common pathogens responsible for this condition are Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus (Strep. eq. ssp. zoo.) and Rhodococcus equi (R. equi). As foal pneumonia occurs endemically on many studs worldwide, practitioners are asked to evaluate regularly all foals in order to detect early affected foals and reduce the losses. Some of those will show neither clinical symptoms nor hematological changes but obvious pulmonary lesions at sonography. Consequently the question of treating these foals will rise. The aim of the study was to evaluate the serum amyloid A (SAA) concentration in clinically healthy or mildly sick foals showing either no findings, moderate or severe findings at lung sonography. The investigation was a prospective study. A total of 33 foals were examined once weekly starting at the age of two weeks over a period of four months. Clinical signs, body temperature, ultrasonographical pulmonary findings and haematological findings including WBC count and SAA serum concentrations were monitored. After each sonographical examination of the lung, the diameters of pulmonary consolidations were added to obtain an abscess score that represents the severity of pulmonary disease of these foals. The frozen serum samples of the 33 foals were analysed at different stages of pneumonia. Altogether, 49 samples of healthy state (abscess score = 0 cm), 31 of moderately sick state (abscess score=1-9 cm, no indication for treatment) and 22 of severe pulmonary damage (abscess score >10 cm, indication for treatment) were analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the SAA concentration. The median SAA was 18 µg/ml (25th percentile: 1.5 µ/ml; 75th percentile: 52.7 µg/ml) in the healthy foals, 5.6 µg/ml (25th: 2.4 µg/ml; 75th: 82.3 µg/ml) in the moderately sick foals and 80.2 µg/ml (25th: 79.3 µg/ml; 75th: 160 µg/ml) in the foals requiring treatment. These results show that the SAA concentration might be considered as an efficient parameter for making a treatment decision in foals in the early course of pneumonia.

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Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals: An assessment of the early diagnostic value of serum amyloid A and plasma fibrinogen concentrations in equine clinical practice

Cited by 23 publications

References 33 publications

Equine Inflammatory Markers in the Twenty-First Century

Equine Inflammatory Markers in the Twenty-First Century

Clinical Assessment of a Point‐of‐Care Serum Amyloid A Assay in Foals with Bronchopneumonia

Serum amyloid A concentration in foals – Can it help when making a treatment decision in foals with pneumonia?

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